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Sunday, 2 February 2014

Interview with MANTAR

The
next band that I am interviewing have already released one of my fave
albums of 2014 and I didn't even review it. That pleasure was
bestowed to our very own – Matt “The Machine” Fitton. Matt
described today's guest's début album – Death By Burning as:

“I
have welcomed 2014 into my existence with this album, and the year is
already sounding truly righteous thanks to Mantar. This is an album
engorged with fat riffs and drumming that sounds like a mammoth
stampede, and it's just what you need to get your next 12 months
started the right way, the heavy way. 'Death By Burning' is a
tremendous marriage of styles and feel, and it will crush you in it's
path. And believe me, that is something to be welcomed.”

Death
By Burning is more of an experience than it is an album. This will
definitely be in my best records of 2014 list that's for sure. MANTAR
have kindly agreed to talk to us at Sludgelord HQ.

Q1
– Hi guys. Thanks for doing this. How are things with you today.

Hi
…all is fine here on the Mantarside. We are kinda excited about the
release of our debut-album and are already collecting ideas for new
songs. Thanks for your interest. All the feedback we are getting from
all over the world these days is quite impressive.

Q2
– For people not in the know, can you tell us how the band came
about and where it is today.

Erinc:
We know each other for 16 years...sorry…more like we are friends
for 16 years with a deep respect for each others musical
“talent”…yeah indeed. We both played in plenty of bands and
hung out together, went to shows…but never happened to start a band
with each other. Some time ago hanno came up with the idea to form a
new band…just a two-piece…something more on the heavy side. So we
met…jammed about 3-4 hours and it worked out fantastic. It got
together what belongs together… So the rest is history so to speak.
We rehearsed and practiced a whole year, got a bunch of songs
together and quickly recorded them in a friends studio…in truly
DIY-manner. Today we are mainly surprised to be already asked to play
roadburn-festival. We are beyond stoked to play shows like that after
playing our first show only 8 month ago..

Q3
– So, where did the name MANTAR come from.

Mantar
is a Turkish word for mushroom. It’s a good thing... we like
mushrooms...but they can be poisonous. Furthermore it just sounds rad
and quite powerful. Erinc has Turkish roots…

Q4
– What bands and artists influenced you as musicians. Any
particular band or album made you decide to become musicians.

Erinc:
I think we both wanted to be musicians since our very early days.My
parents had a record of “Ricky King”, a german pop guitarplayer…
when I got home from elementary school I listened to that record on a
daily basis and wanted to become Ricky King. I guess Hanno just
skipped the children songs phase…and immediately got into t AC/DC.
A lifetime relationship. For myself..I’m a big fan of the Melvins
and Dale Crover. He really has this very unique and revolutionary
drumstyle…a totally different point of view to drumming in general
combined with rocking the shit out of your set. Love it! Still a big
influence to me.

Q5
– Let's talk about your brilliant new album. As we are massive fans
of it at Sludgelord HQ. Was it an easy or hard album to write and
record for.

Erinc:
Well, we´ve got a very unconventional way of songwriting. Nobody is
coming up with complete songs. We are gathering ideas, riffs,
drumbeats….and use them as “bricks” to build songs. This works
great. We never had the feeling of getting stuck somewhere. It all
went pretty fluent. Hanno and I complete each other perfectly. Most
of the times we don’t talk much about what we are doing. It’s an
energetic battle of wordless communication. The
recording was hard for me…I’m not a fan of studio sessions and we
just had 2 days for the drum tracks...and my hands were covered with
burning bloody blisters afterwards. That’s why I use gloves for
drumming these days. Hanno is way more experienced when it comes to
recording…but I remember him losing his voice after every single
vocal session…so he needed 2-3 days for regeneration until we could
go on every time. That might be the reason the vocals sound so sick…
but in the end…we proudly nailed it.

Hanno:
As we are a two piece band it´s pretty easy to come up with new
songs. The tracks always come out from jamming. If we like stuff we
find ourselves repeating it for hours.

We
are able to play ourselves in some kind of trance or meditation.
Than we know it´s good and worth keeping. The structure of the
songs comes pretty naturally as well. We just play the different
parts and the final song is kinda self developing. It´s a very
unique energy between the two of us. Never experienced something like
that in other bands before. Writing music ain´t “work” for us.
It´s just something that just happens. If it does not, We quit and
leave the rehearsal room. No pressure. For the recording work we
wanted to keep the (live) energy from the rehearsal room. That´s why
we kept it as simple and raw as possible. We used exactly the stuff
to record the album that we use live and in the rehearsal room as
well. And the result is great. We dig it. Glad to hear you do so,
too.

Q6
– From hearing it you would expect MANTAR to be a four piece band
as you guys are incredibly loud. What equipment do you use to get
that massive sound.

Hanno:
Of course we sound like a four piece…cause we are using equipment
for at least 4 people combined with a good amount of musical
violence. I use three amps at the same time with Marshall and Ampeq
cabinets and some special FX Pedals to get that low end. I use bass
amplifiers, too. All the classic, old Orange heads and two Petersburg
heads which I use for more or less anything. Great JCM 800 copies
from Russia from the early 90s. I´ve got three of ´em. Erinc is
hitting the drums as hard as possible, that´s quite important, too.
He really is an insanely loud drummer. Every second club asks us to
put duct tape or shit like that on the cymbals. But we deny to do so
and decided only to play shows where we can put the sound on stage
that we deliver on the record. That’s it!

Q7
– So how does MANTAR, themselves describe their own sound as I
would call it Black-Sludge-Punk and Roll. Probably best if you
describe it yourselves.

Hanno:
Names and labels mean nothing to us. Call it how you like it best. I
think here´s a constant “aggressive” and “dark” urge in the
music. I Think Mantar´s sound is very violent and in some way
destructive. It´s hard to explain. You know, we don´t even have any
message. We just try to channel the raw power of the songs and the
result is a pretty sinister sound as far as I experience it. It´s
not about playing super fast blast-beats or trying to get yourself a
cheesy mean image or something. It´s just about playing as heavy as
possible. Pure honest rage. Plus the lyrics might have an obvious
dark side as well.

Even though we want the music to speak for itself.
Black is correct, Punk, hell yeah, Roll, yes… from time to time.
People might call it sludge, maybe that´s true. Personally I avoid
that label. Don´t get me wrong, we did not reinvent the wheel. Never
had that ambition though. But i think that the genre "sludge"
isn´t something you can rely on any more as a trademark for
something particulary good. It´s pretty worn out these days and a
lot of bands use it 2013 as a brand because they dont have any own
character or dont know about their own roots. Maybe due to the fact
they never had any. Don´t get me wrong, I love shitloads of stuff
that is branded as "sludge". Great bands out there, but
well... some kind of inflation is going on nowadays. And what does
sludge mean? That people play slow, heavy music? I don´t have the
intension of making music for a certain kind of “scene” or even
worse, target group.

Q8
– The album is being released on CD, DD and Vinyl through Svart
Records. How did you become involved with Svart. One of our fave
labels here at Sludgelord. Awesome label.

Hanno:
It is indeed an awesome label. Lots of good stuff. We had other
offers from bigger metal labels as well but I am very happy that we
got hooked up with Svart. It kinda feels right to us. Old fashioned
way: Dropped them a line with some links to the band. Two days later
they said: “let´s go!” The deal is fair as well. That was the
main reason.

Q9
– What is your favourite song off the album and why.

Erinc:
I don’t have one favourite song, but I like “Berzerker’s
Path”…it represents the simplicity of heaviness…very dark.

Hanno:
I like “White Nights”. We knew right away that this is something
special when I came up with that riffing. Epic, dark and very violent
in an elegant way.

Q10
– Do you guys tour a lot in - (Sludgelord Note - I forgot to finish this question and send it to the band. But have left it in to show the band's great sense of humour)

?
Russia? not yet ;-)

Q11
– Who designed the excellent album cover. As it's a rather brooding
and mysterious album cover. It doesn't tell you what is in store for
you when you listen to the album.

Erinc:
That painting is called “The Crown” from the great artist Aron
Wiesenfeld. Hanno happened to find it and we both decided that it has
to be our albumcover. I think it describes our music better than we
ever could. That hopelessness in the face of the girl with the
burning crown…epic. Death by burning is an expresion that can
expresse much more than just getting burned alive on the stake. We
asked Aron about using “The Crown” as our cover and he kindly
agreed. So it’s a fucking honour for us to have such a wonderful
piece of art to represent our music. He sure is an incredible artist.

Q12
– You may know I am a massive fan of the German Doom/Sludge/Stoner
Metal scene. Thanks to bands such as Wall, The Moth, Aleph Null,
Nightslug and yourselves. Plus many more that I forget to mention.
How is the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal scene currently in Germany. Do
you guys play a lot of gigs in your home town or do you have to
travel further afield to perform regularly.

Hanno:
Our hometown Hamburg is a good place when it comes to the musical
style you´ve described. We have good shows over here and even a cool
festival. It´s called DRONEBURG. We will play there this year as
well. But there are plenty of good cities and venues to play in
Germany. I hope we will play all of them… In general we have to
admit, that we never have been part of a certain scene or something.
We just did or own thing. Even though we fit in pretty well and we´ve
good lots of love from all over Germany.

Q13
– Can you recommend any other bands for our readers to check out.

Hanno:
Well, especially the young people might not know about these bands.
But as we both come from Bremen, a city about 60 miles next to
Hamburg, we would like to name some bands from our real hometown.
Some of these bands don´t play anymore but still give goose bumps.
Like ACME, SYSTRAL or our friends from MÖRSER.

Q14
– What albums are currently rocking your world. Old or new. Any
recommendations you like to tell us to check out.

Q15
– Your new album is starting to receive some brilliant praise at
the moment. Are you happy with the responses so far. And did you
realise you had recorded something special.

Erinc:
Indeed…it is an enormous response we get for the album. It’s mind
blowing and we are surely happy with that. Having people appreciating
your stuff is always cool. Even though we are primarily satisfying
ourselves with MANTAR, it’s a gift to know that others also
understand and like your music.

Q16
– In 5 words or less, describe the live MANTAR experience.

A
Rhinoceros in your face!

Q17
– What is your verdict on the Crowd-Funding Scene that bands and
musicians are currently doing asking fans to fund their latest
release. Are you a fan and would you consider doing that yourselves.

Hanno:
Might be a cool idea. If fans want to have news material to let them
pay in advance… smart move. For us, well I don’t know about that.
For this record we didn’t spend much money. We recorded it with a
close friend in his studio and did all the producing by ourselves.

Q18
- If you could give advice to someone wanting to start a band. What
advice would you give them.

Don´t
try to satisfy other people´s likings. Understand your gear and
learn that everything is possible in DO IT YOURSELF manner. Do not
let people talk shit about your band. Be willing to fistfight for
your band and bandmates, otherwise look elsewhere. If people consider
playing in a band as a hobby look elsewhere. Play what you like the
best. On the long run that´s the only possibility to get people
seriously interested in your band. Be proud on what you do. Be
confident. Playing hard is a good excuse for not taking care of your
look. DO NOT expect to make any money. And, last but not least: FUCK
SHIT UP!

Q19
– So apart from your new album being released, what other cool
plans do you have in 2014. Any plans to tour overseas.

Hanno:
I hope we will play literally the whole world. Would love to play UK
asap, same with the states. But for now we have to start somewhere.
That´s mainly over here right now. In May we will tour Portugal and
Spain, and in April we will play Roadburn. Hopefully some festivals
during the summer. We have an invitation for Turkey as well and I
hope we will fly to south east asia this year, too. I know a lot of
people over there and they have a wonderful healthy scene. Especially
in Malaysia. I have been there on tour already. If anyone wants us to
play anywhere or book a tour, please get in touch. You are more than
welcome.

Q20
– Finally guys, Thanks for talking to us. Good luck with the album
in 2014. Do you want anything to say to your fans here at Sludgelord.

Thank
you very much for all your kind words and honest interest in MANTAR
and music in general. You guys make the world a better place.

I want to thank MANTAR for talking to us here at Sludgelord HQ as we are massive fans of their music. Thanks to Nathan at Svart Records PR for arranging this interview as well.

Band Submissions

To those bands who have recently issued their first demo or album via bandcamp and would like to be featured on our 666 Pack Review or considered for a full review or stream please contact Aaron via email including your EPK, band bio, album file or download code, including artwork.

To those bands issuing their sophomore record and so on and would like to be considered for a review or stream on the blog. Get in touch using the same address above

We will consider bands from any genre but exclusively stoner, sludge, doom, psych, post-metal, experimental, black-metal etc. (Whilst I would like to respond to every email, this is not always possible.) Thanks